Pandora Academy
by SangoSan195
Summary: Oz has just started at Pandora Academy and on his first day, he meets some very interesting people. Based on the third anime omake.
1. Chapter 1

Oz stared up at the large, almost intimidating building.

"So, this is Pandora Academy" He muttered to himself.

He was a little nervous, he'd never liked being alone before, and no one was ever more alone than on the first day at a new school. Oz took a deep breath and walked past the gates.

_I hope I'll at least meet someone…_

The bell suddenly rang loudly in his ears, Oz checked his watch, it had taken him longer than he'd thought to get here. Oz tried to think of which homeroom he'd been assigned to.

_Crap! I can't remember which room the letter said I was in!_

"Crap, crap, crap! I'm late! I'm late!" A voice cried.

Oz turned to see a man running towards him, he had on a white polo shirt and dark blue pants, he lifted his gaze from his watch too late to realize he was going to crash into Oz. Oz realized he was too late to get out of the way and he was sent crashing to the ground. The first thing he could register after that was the back of his head felt like someone had hit him with a house and the second thing he realized was that the man who had crashed into him was now hovering over him. The man seemed to be recovering from the impact as well, he opened his eyes and looked down at Oz.

Oz took in the man's features, the most striking thing was his eyes, they were a brilliant gold. The next was his hair, it was messy and as dark as a raven's feathers, it was a rather contrasting combination.

"Oh shit! S-sorry, I didn't see you there!" The man stuttered as he climbed off of Oz.

Oz sat up, still rubbing the back of his head. He looked up to see the man offering him his hand, which he took.

"Again, really sorry for crashing into you there, you're not hurt anywhere are you?" He asked while pulling Oz to his feet.

Oz shook his head and laughed it off.

"Nah, I'm alright. I'm actually a lot tougher than I look" He said with a smile.

The man seemed relieved, he apologised again before turning and running. Oz watched him go curiously, and then he realized he still had no idea which homeroom he was in.

_Crap!_

**-XXX-**

Oz sighed, he'd finally found out which room he was in after checking at the administrative office. This was not the kind of start he'd been looking for, but he wasn't really complaining that much. He wondered abut that man from earlier, he had most striking features, Oz hoped he'd see him again.

"Ah, 2B, this is the place" Oz said as he stopped outside the door.

He swallowed, being late on his first day wasn't a hospitable start to the year. He opened the door and bowed his head low.

"Sorry I'm late!" He said.

"That's alright, you haven't missed anything important, just take your seat and you might want to take down these notes" He was told.

Oz nodded and raised his head, he swore he almost had a heart attack.

_It's that guy from earlier! He's the teacher!_

Oz quickly hid his surprise and sat in the first seat he could get to, the seat closest to the door at the front of the room. He quickly took out a piece of paper and began writing down the notes on the chalkboard. Every now and then his eyes would stray away from the notes to the man writing them.

_What's wrong with me?! He's just the teacher…_

When he finally seemed finished writing, the teacher put down the chalk and turned around to face the class.

"Okay, my name is Gilbert Nightray and I will be your homeroom teacher for this year, I may also be your maths and social studies teacher depending on your class arrangements" He said as he picked up a clipboard from his desk. "I'm going to read out the roll and all you have to do, is say that you're here and put your hand in the air, no sass or stupidity, simple"

Oz couldn't help but admire the way he handled himself in front of a whole group of people, teenagers no less. Ignoring the whispers some passed between themselves.

"Oz Bezarius?"

Oz's reverie was broken at the sound of his name.

"H-here Gilbert-sensei" He stuttered, sticking his hand up.

The teacher's eyes wandered to him and Oz saw the flash of recognition and surprise in his eyes, but it was buried almost right away. Oz watched while he called out the rest of the names on the roll, a curious thought passed through his head, he wondered how old Gilbert-sensei was, he looked too young to be a teacher. Every teacher Oz had ever had was usually middle aged if not going on elderly, it was odd to see someone so young as a teacher.

"Now that that's out of the way, I'm going to hand out your class timetables, these will stick until halfway through the year and then depending on your grades, class choices, etc you may be moved into different classes, but that's too far off for you guys to think about right now" He said as he picked up the stack of papers off his desk and walked around the classroom.

"And here's yours" The man said as he stopped in front of Oz's desk.

He held out the paper and when Oz took it, his fingertips accidentally brushed against Gilbert's and both teacher and student felt an almost electric shock from the contact, but neither gave any indication.

Gilbert walked away, continuing to hand out the remaining timetables. His mind, however, was racing, as was his heart.

What was happening to him? What was it about that boy?

Meanwhile Oz was having similar thoughts. He stared at his hand, trying to figure out what exactly that was? That had never happened before.

Gilbert cleared his throat, to draw the class away from their moaning and complaints about, to put it politely, classes they would prefer to go without. He looked at his watch and, as if on cue, the bell rang loud and clear.

The air was suddenly ablaze with noise, the screeching of chairs as people stood and there was suddenly so much talking that one would think they'd waited an eternity to speak with one another.

Oz did not talk, he had no one to talk to. He waited until everyone else was gone before he rose and began to walk out the door, he hadn't wanted to get swept into the crowd, unintentionally listening in on conversations he wasn't a part of.

"Oz-kun?" he heard Gilbert-sensei call to him.

He stopped and turned around, puzzled. The man walked up and placed a hand on Oz's shoulder.

"I just wanted to say sorry again for bowling into you earlier" He said with a sincere smile.

Oz smiled back.

"Really Gilbert-sensei, it's alright, it's not like it was the first time I've ever been pushed down before" Oz laughed.

The smile slowly dropped from Gilbert's face when he heard this, there was something about the way the blonde boy had said those words that unnerved him. As if sensing his change in mood, Oz clumsily tried to correct himself.

"Um, I just mean I'm used to it, tha-" Oz stopped cold, realizing with horror that he'd said too much.

His smile now completely gone, Gilbert removed his hand from Oz's shoulder, allowing it to drop slowly back to his side. He opened his mouth to say something, but suddenly Oz turned and ran from the room. He reached out as if to stop him, but it was too late, the boy was gone.

**-XXX-**

Oz clutched his bag to his chest, mentally cursing himself. Why had he just done that?

_I'm so stupid!_

He stopped when he realized his legs were carrying him to the school gates, he couldn't leave, he couldn't go home. His father would-

Oz stopped his train of thought there, he allowed himself a minute to catch his breath. He wondered why the school yard was so deserted.

_Idiot! Because everyone's already gone to their first classes!_

Oz dug his timetable out of his bag where he put it and gave it a quick look over. He was supposed to be in Science right now, he cursed himself again and took off. Thankful he'd thoroughly studied the map of the school that had come in the mail, he wouldn't have any problems finding the room.

**-XXX-**

It turned out he was lucky, the last of the class was just entering the room when he arrived, so he was able to quietly slip in behind the others. This room, instead of desks, had 5 long parallel benches. He decided he would sit at the back of the room, he hoped to avoid any unnecessary attention that way.

He sat down beside a girl with long dark brown hair and a very sour expression on her face. She seemed to be glaring quite passionately at the man, who Oz assumed to be the teacher, that stood at the front of the room. He was wearing a long white coat with what looked like a purple shirt underneath and dark three-quarter pants. His hair was white and it covered his left eye, and the eye that was visible, was a deep red. He also had a strange looking doll perched on his shoulder.

"Well, isn't it just lovely to see so many familiar faces again this year?" The man laughed.

The girl beside Oz scoffed loudly, a few people in front of them turned back to glance at her, but were just as quickly deterred by a sharp look on her part. The teacher seemed quite amused by this.

"Ah, and it's so~ nice to see _you _again too, Alice-kun" He said with a small, almost teasing wave in her direction.

The girl called Alice visibly shivered with what he guessed was disgust and Oz was surprised that with all the hatred in her gaze, the man did not simply burst into flames.

"You just keep your distance, Clown!" She snapped.

Oz could've fallen out of his seat at the way this girl spoke to their teacher, but what surprised him even more was that the teacher actually seemed to be enjoying the exchange.

"I missed you too, Alice-kun"

Alice narrowed her eyes further, if it was even possible. The curious man laughed and walked around the room, his eye scanning the rows of faces. Until he finally came to rest on Oz, who stiffened when he realized the teacher was looking at him with something he couldn't quite identify in that single red eye. Seemingly satisfied, he returned to the front of the room.

"I'm your teacher for however long is up to you, Xerxes Break" He introduced himself with a small bow.

Oz had a feeling this was going to be an interesting year, but something still bothered him about the way Break had looked at him.

All of a sudden he clapped everyone looked up.

"Okay, we should get started, I'll give you your textbooks and you can copy out the notes on page 10 starting from line six, and don't think you can get away with sleeping or slacking in my class, it wouldn't look very good on my part if you all failed now, would it?"

Then he turned around and picked up a piece of chalk, with his sleeve, and draw a large 10/6 on the blackboard and underlined it. He then turned his head and gave everyone a rather dark sideways smile, a simultaneous shiver passed through the room and everyone obediently stood and retrieved a textbook from the shelves that lined one side of the room. All except Alice, she snorted and leaned back in her chair, propping her feet up on the bench.

Oz had to admit, this girl was gutsy, she obviously had some kind of history with the teacher. He decided he would try and be friendly, something in the back of his mind said he wanted to stay on her good side. He collected a book for himself and one for Alice before making his way back to his seat. He took a deep breath before turning and offering the book to Alice.

"Here, I got you a book so you don't get in trouble with the teacher" He said with a smile.

Alice looked from him to the book and back again, something akin to distrust in her eyes.

"Why would you do this? What are you after?" She asked sharply.

Oz supposed that must be just her normal way of speaking to people.

"I…uh…was just trying to be nice, I d-don't want anything" He said, becoming slightly uncomfortable under her intense gaze.

She seemed to give him somewhat of a once-over before snatching the book from his hand and putting her head down. Oz couldn't decide if his attempt had been successful or not, but at least she had taken the book, he turned back to his own book and began to write down the notes as per instruction.

"Hey, what's your name?"

Oz was surprised when Alice spoke to him, she was looking at him from the corner of her eye, her gaze not as intense as before.

"My name's Oz. Oz Bezarius" He said, his smile once again in place.

Alice regarded him for a moment before lowering her head, her face now obscured by her hair.

"Yeah…well, thanks…Oz" She uttered quietly.

Oz smiled to himself, maybe he had succeeded after all.

"You're welcome…Alice"


	2. Chapter 2

Oz let out a breath he hadn't known he was holding. He'd finally finished copying down all the notes from the book.

The bell rang loudly and students began to leave for their next class. Oz packed away his things and returned the book to the shelf. Again, he waited back slightly, but just as he was about to walk out the door, he felt someone grab his shoulder and he was pulled back.

"What's your hurry Oz-kun?"

He turned around and faced Break, and again, he didn't like the way the man was looking at him. Break took a step towards him and instinctually Oz took a step back. Suddenly the man reached forward and grabbed Oz's chin, forcing the boy to look at him in the eye.

"Tell me Oz-kun, where in the world are you?"

Oz didn't understand what he meant and Break smiled an almost eerie smile.

"With my faded eyes…I just can't see you clearly at all."

Oz was beginning to feel very uncomfortable, the look in his eye said that he wasn't really expecting an answer, but wanted one nonetheless.

"What do you…?" Oz said quietly.

Suddenly he was pulled back again, this time, however, he was unable to stay on his feet and landed hard on his backside.

"So, your eyes have finally rotted out, you Stupid Clown!" A loud voice mocked. "Can't you see, Oz is right here?!"

Oz looked up from where he was sitting to see Alice standing over him, her grip still firm on the scruff of his shirt.

Where had she come from? When had she come back? Or…had she never left?

"My my, Alice-kun, this is a surprise. How odd of you to stand up for another student, is there something about this young man that you've taken a liking to?"

Alice smirked, tilting her head slightly.

"That's my business Clown." She said as she promptly hauled Oz to his feet.

He barely had time to place both feet flat on the ground before Alice practically shoved him from the room.

**-XXX-**

They walked in silence for a moment before Oz turned to Alice.

"Thanks for saving me, I didn't know what I would've done if you hadn't shown up" He said with a laugh.

Alice seemed to disregard him before replying.

"Anything to ruin the Clown's day." She muttered. "Stupid Clown."

He decided not to ask why she'd chosen to help him, one should never look a gift horse in the mouth. According to their timetable, they now had a morning break. When Oz looked over to ask Alice if she'd like to eat with him, he found that she'd disappeared. Slightly disappointed, Oz wondered where he could go, if he was going to be alone anyway, he preferred to be alone where he didn't have to watch everyone else with their friends.

He decided on the school roof, no one would go there and students were free to spend their breaks anywhere, including the school building, so that should include the roof as well.

**-XXX-**

Gilbert exhaled heavily, the cigarette smoke clouding his vision for a moment. He felt a cough rising in his throat, but suppressed it. He was ashamed of himself, he was only 24 and yet sometimes he coughed like 60 year old sailor with emphysema. He tapped lightly on his chest, leaning against the railing, hoping to keep his smokers hack at bay for just a little longer, the coughing fit itself was quite painful.

He could only smoke on the roof of the building if didn't want to be seen, and also because he wasn't supposed to smoke around the students, second hand smoke was more harmful than the initial inhalation, he certainly didn't need that guilt on his conscience.

Suddenly he heard the door open behind him, he hastily removed the cigarette from his mouth and hid it behind his leg as he turned around.

"Oz-kun?!"

"Gilbert-sensei?!"

Oz was frozen, the details of their last conversation came rushing back. He struggled to think of something to say to ease the tension that currently hung in the air.

"W-What are you doing up here?" He asked, nervously scratching the back of his head.

"U-uh…I was just…dammit!" He began to speak, but suddenly jumped and cursed.

Oz jumped at his yell and began to think he'd done something wrong, that was until Gilbert brought his hand up and began to wave it back and forth. He also noticed the cigarette butt fall by the man's foot at the same time.

"Ah, well, I guess I'm sprung aren't I?" Gilbert laughed.

Oz couldn't help but laugh too, the tension gone.

"So, you came up here to smoke?" Oz said as he went to stand by Gilbert.

He nodded and removed the pack from his back pocket, taking one out and sticking it in his mouth. He replaced the packet and brought out a lighter, he looked at Oz and seemed to think twice. He put away the lighter and removed the cigarette from his mouth.

"I'm not supposed to smoke around the kids." He said.

"Oh, I c-can go, if…you want to-" Oz stuttered, suddenly feeling like somewhat of a bother.

"Nah, it's probably better this way, I'm thinking of quitting anyway," Gilbert replied as he discarded the unlit cigarette in the nearby bin. "Why were you coming up here?"

Oz froze, suddenly very embarrassed, he turned his head so Gilbert would not see him blushing.

"I…uh…" He hesitated.

Gilbert watched curiously, he hadn't meant to make the boy uncomfortable.

"Well, anyway, I'll leave you to it." He said as he began to walk away.

Oz almost asked him to stay, but thought better of it for fear of creating future tensions. When he reached the door to the roof, Gilbert stopped and turned around.

"And Oz…" Oz looked up. "…about what you said earlier, forget about it, but if you ever need someone to talk to, I'll listen." He said with a sincere smile.

Oz couldn't say anything as he opened the door and disappeared inside. Oz sat down on the spot and stared up at the sky.

What was this strange fluttering feeling in his chest? And why did it feel so pleasant to Oz?

He wondered what else could possibly happen to him today: a rather frightening girl who seemed to have two completely different sides, an beguiling teacher who was forced to smoke in secret on the roof of the school, another teacher with blood red eyes and a curious looking doll on his shoulder, now he'd seen everything, but Oz also guessed that he'd barely scratched the surface of Pandora Academy.

"_If you ever need someone to talk to, I'll listen."_

Oz couldn't stop replaying those words over and over in his head, he was extremely adept at picking out liars and he hadn't been able to discern any trace of deception in Gilbert-sensei's words, it made his heart beat unexpectedly fast.

Gilbert-sensei had known him for not even a day and yet, he'd already offered Oz more than he'd ever hoped to receive from anyone; even his own family, his own father had never even-

Oz couldn't stop himself in time and thoughts of his father flooded his mind.

"_It'd be better if that thing had never been born."_

"_Don't touch me filth!"_

Oz covered his ears in a desperate attempt to drown out his father's voice, his hatred.

"_I'll listen."_

Warmth flooded his chest and his father's voice faded away, replaced by Gilbert-sensei's soothing reassurance and gentle smile.

How was it that a single sentence could seemingly purge a lifetime of hateful words? How had Gilbert-sensei left so much of a deep impression on Oz? How was it that he filled Oz with so much strength, so much hope, warmth?

Maybe it was the denial of any kind of acknowledgement from the one person he'd strived to impress for the entirety of his childhood, that had left him so receptive to affection, but he didn't care. To find someone who wasn't his family that…cared, it was overwhelming to Oz.

He decided then and there, that no matter what, he would become the best student he could, anything to keep himself in Gilbert's favour, anything to keep that affection flowing.

Anything.


	3. Chapter 3

Oz fidgeted nervously, tugging and pulling at his sleeves. He had Maths next and Gilbert-sensei was his teacher, his first class with him as his teacher. He was determined to be the best student in the class, he couldn't afford to be anything less.

This was his last class of the day, his previous session had been English, his teacher had been a young girl by the name of Sharon Reinsworth. When Oz had first seen her, he'd had a hard time believing she was a teacher, she looked barely older than he was. He'd also learned that Sharon liked to wield a paper fan to discipline her students, he never wanted to be on the receiving end of that fan, it looked like it really hurt. And strangely enough, she'd taken an unusual interest in him like Xerxes Break had, it was a little unnerving.

"Okay, everyone sit down and shut it, we're going to start right away." Gilbert suddenly entered the room.

Oz hastily took out his workbook and a pencil, his eyes affixed to the man at the front of the room. He once again admired the way Gilbert managed to be so composed and cool while in front of a whole class of teenagers. But this man, The Teacher; was so cold and distant. He was nothing at all like the smiling, laughing person he'd discovered sneaking a cigarette on the roof. Oz couldn't help but wonder, which was the true Gilbert Nightray?

"Guess what kiddies? We're going to start the year with a small test." He said, patting the large stack of papers on the large desk at the front of the room that obviously served as the teacher's desk.

A loud chorus of groans and profanity was released at this announcement, but Oz just wished they'd get started.

"It's nothing big, it's just so I can get a basic idea of who's dumb and who's dumber."

Oz actually had to stifle a giggle at that remark, but he froze when he saw Gilbert watching him. Blushing furiously, he purposely knocked his pencil on to the floor, bending down to pick it back up; he mentally scolded himself.

_Stupid, stupid, stupid! Now he's gonna think that you're a troublemaker! Stupid!_

Gilbert swore his heart skipped a beat at the sound of the blonde's laughter. For a reason he couldn't fathom, it was the most wonderful sound he'd ever encountered._Wait! No! What are you thinking?!_He mentally slapped himself, this was a student he was thinking about. He knew nothing about this child beyond the boy's name and here he was having completely inappropriate thoughts, in the classroom no less. What was the matter with him?To distract himself, he grabbed the pile of tests from his desk and handed a bunch to each of the students in the front row.

"Take one and pass the rest back."He sat down at his desk and waited for the "geniuses" to do as he'd instructed. He glanced at his watch, it was almost time for them to start.

"Alright, you can begin on my mark. 3...2...1...you may begin."

He sighed as the air was filled with the sound of scratching pencils on paper. He now had just under an hour to kill while he waited for the class to be over, he wished he'd brought even a pack of cards to pass the time. Oh, but that wouldn't be too professional of him, would it?

_What's the bet all of them fail? That would just be my luck. I knew I should have called in sick this morning instead of running here like a fly with it's ass on fire._

His eyes lazily drifted over the room, eventually settling on the blonde boy seated in the second row. His green eyes were concentrated on the paper with such determination he was sure to burn a hole in the desk.

_Oz Bezarius, huh? Maybe…there's hope yet._

Oz bit his lip anxiously, wishing he was better with numbers. This test was actually quite difficult and he was afraid of disappointing Gilbert-sensei.

_Why? Why did he have to be the maths teacher? I…I'm horrible at maths._

When the bell signalling the end of the period finally rang, he'd only been able to complete three quarters of the test. Oz sighed, defeated. It looked as if his first impression was not going to be a good one.

_Now he'll think I'm not just a troublemaker, but stupid too!_

Oz had to fight back tears as he packed his things away and passed his test to the student in front of him for collection. He wouldn't cry, not in front of everyone.

"Alright everyone, I'll grade your tests and tomorrow we can begin our course for the year." Gilbert said loudly as students began to file from the room.

Oz hastily tried to blend in with the crowd of people, he just wanted to disappear at that moment. Against his better judgement, he glanced back to see Gilbert going through the test papers, sighing as he lifted one out. Carried away by the flow of the crowd, Oz felt his chest clench painfully, something told him that particular test paper had to have been his.

It was now time for students to go home. Oz walked slowly, he was in no hurry to be anywhere. It's not like there was anyone waiting for him at his house. The house he lived in hadn't been a home for a long time, it had become merely a building where he went when he wasn't needed elsewhere.

For the first time in a while, he allowed himself thoughts of his sister. Ada had been sent away by their father to a boarding school as soon as she had reached schooling age, that had been a very long time ago, years had passed in fact. She had been so small when he had last seen her, he wondered if she would even remember him now.

_Ada…even…even if you've forgotten me, that's okay, I'll never forget you though._

Oz felt nothing as he saw his house up ahead, but he couldn't hold back his tears any longer. He ran through the gates and up behind the side of the house, crouching behind a tree, he allowed the tears to flow.

Why? Why did his father despise him so?

He'd only ever tried to be an obedient child and yet, even with little to no contact, his father had rejected his very existence in this world. His father, who was supposed to love and protect him as a parent, seemed to do anything and everything to make Oz's life miserable. And just when he'd come to accept their situation, his father had begun physically abusing him instead of mentally. Although that did nothing to ease his mental anguish.

_And I almost told Gilbert-sensei, I'm such an idiot!_

When the flow of tears finally stopped, Oz splashed his face with water from the outside faucet and took a deep breath. Hopefully, he would not pass his father today. He pushed open the front door and slipped inside as quietly as possible. The silent emptiness of the large house had remained the same since his leaving that morning. He sighed and proceeded up the stairs, then down the long passageway to his bedroom.

Oz was only a few feet from the door of his bedroom when he heard the approaching footsteps. His entire body froze and his blood turned to ice in his veins. He thought to himself that if he ran, he could probably make it to his bedroom in time, but at that point in his life, to hope was to ask for even more pain.

_Damn! Why does it have to be this way?!_

Oz watched his father approaching from the opposite end of the passageway, quickly averting his eyes to the floor, he braced himself for the inevitable. The air as his father passed him by was almost arctic. For a moment after, Oz stood in disbelief, nothing had happened. He felt his heart begin to beat again.

Suddenly something struck him hard across the back of his neck and he dropped to the floor with a cry. Before he even had time to recover from the first blow, something hard collided with his chest, painfully forcing the air from his lungs in an instant. Oz curled into a ball in an attempt to protect himself and lessen the pain which now wracked his body. Opening his eyes, Oz stared at the looming shadow of his father that stood over him. He'd never even heard him turn back. His father's boot crashed down on his arm, eliciting a loud yelp from Oz. When finally his father decided he'd done enough, he left as swiftly as he'd come. Even while beating him, his father refused to say a single word, give a single sign of acknowledgement.

Oz lay still for a moment before attempting to get up. His injured arm immediately protested, but Oz knew he couldn't stay on the floor. Picking himself up, he limped to his bedroom. Throwing his schoolbag on the ground, he dropped onto his bed, curling up into a ball.

Every breath was a painful struggle, the back of his neck stung with a hot intensity and cradling his arm against his body, Oz just knew they would all bruise within a matter of hours.

The only thing that the blonde was grateful for, at that point in his life, was that those bruises would be in places he could hide.

_It…really hurts…Gilbert-sensei._


End file.
